DIRECTORS BLOG

Hi, my name is Annemarie and I am the Client Services director for Night Nannies.
I use this blog as a way to give you tips and idea's in all areas of childcare and development.

Posted 01 May 14

Worlds first brings peace of mind to new parents with Google partnering with Night Nannies

PRESS RELEASE

Night Nannies joins Helpouts by Google to bring peace of mind to new parents

In a move that will have new parents sighing with relief, Night Nannies will join Helpouts by Google, a service to provide real help to real people over live video, as part of its launch of resources for new parents.

Night Nannies specialised team will be providing interactive, expert parenting advice via Helpouts during the times that count when parents need it most.

Australias Night Nannies is one of the first international partners for the new parents category of Helpouts.

Night Nannies CEO Annemarie Sansom said the new parents section on Helpouts will offer a service that is desperately needed for new parents. Im thrilled to be part of a solution for new parents, whether you have a problem in the middle of the night because you cant get your newborn to sleep or youre not sure when to start your bub on solids, or your toddler is taking hours to go to sleep there is someone live on Helpouts to help you, said Ms Sansom.

It doesnt matter if you're a parent in Dubbo in Regional Australia or an expat in Dubai, if you have access to the internet on a computer or smart phone, we can help you whatever time of the night or day.

The great advantage of this service is that unlike just talking to someone on the phone, you can show them the problem and you can talk through how to resolve the issue, working through the solution in real time. If you are using your smart phone you can actually show our consultant the issue such as where your baby sleeps or how you are trying to put your baby to sleep via the live video feed.

The service is currently offering a 15 minute free introductory service, but the service generally costs between $15 to $30 for a 30 minute consult. This service has so many applications for parents, from those who cant afford an in home consultant, to people who aren’t comfortable with having a consultant actually come into their home, to those who just have questions now and then or in emergencies, explained Ms Sansom.

Its a great service to let your new parent friends know about when they are looking for practical and immediate help with their babys sleep.

More information on the service is available: https://helpouts.google.com/+NightNanniesAustralia

Google Wants to Teach You How to Breastfeed Your Baby

There are few people more dazed and confused than a pair of freshly minted parents bringing their first child home from the hospital. And if their newborn bundle of joy won’t suckle, sleep, or stop squalling, they’re soon desperately calling their mother, their pediatrician, and anyone else they can think of for help.

Now they can call Google.

Or, more accurately, Helpouts by Google, to get real-time advice from experts in the field.

Google Wants to Teach You How to Breastfeed Your Baby

Launched last fall, Helpouts by Google offers live video tutorials on topics like how to fix a leaky faucet, troubleshoot your PC, play guitar, or make balloon animals, to name a few. You just launch a Google+ Hangout and chat with a real person using your computer, phone, or tablet.

Today, Google announced a new series of Helpouts aimed at (mostly) new parents, with advice on breastfeeding, nutrition, sleep, behavioral issues, babyproofing, post-pregnancy fitness, and how to get your career back on track.

Yes, Google wants to teach you how to breastfeed. It’s not as easy as it looks.

Google has recruited a pantheon of pediatricians and other experts, like Los Angeles mommy mavens The Pump Station, and Night Nannies, sleep consultants based in Sydney, Australia (so they’re always awake when American parents are trying to get the little nubbins to nod off). Google says it carefully vets the experts before allowing them to hang their shingles on the site.

Some of the advice is free; the rest is available for a set price or a per-minute charge. The Pump Station, for example, charges $175 for a 90-minute sleep consultation; Night Nannies costs slightly more than $1 a minute. Google takes a 20 percent cut of any fees collected and offers a 100 percent refund if you’re not satisfied.

Help yourself How do Helpouts work exactly? You start by searching the site for the expertise you seek. Experts are ranked by best match, followed by customer reviews in the form of star ratings (though I was unable to find any rated expert on any topic who received fewer than five stars), then by lowest price and soonest available times.

After you’ve found an expert you might want to work with, you can watch a brief video introduction and then schedule a consult. Some experts offer classes at set hours; others ask you to contact them to set up a time.

Once you pick a time and agree to a rate, you pay via your Google Wallet account (if you don’t have one, you’ll be prompted to create it).

Google sends you a reminder with a link to the Helpout session before it begins — at least, it’s supposed to. When I signed up for a consult (not for breastfeeding, thank you very much) it didn’t work; I had to contact the expert via email, who sent me the link to the session. You then click the link to launch a Hangout and start gabbing. You may even be able to record a copy of the Helpout session for viewing later, if the expert agrees to that.

Teaching old farts new arts Not all of the family advice is for new parents; there’s also some aimed at old parents like me. I dialed up Dr. Susan Kuczmarski to bend her ear for 30 minutes (at $1 a minute) for advice about my two irascible teenagers. Kuczmarski has an impressive resume; she has a doctorate in education from Columbia, has written three books about dealing with teenagers, teaches at Northwestern university, and occasionally shows up on the Today show.

In short, she’s worth a lot more than a buck a minute. So I asked her why she was doing this. The answer was pretty simple: She takes the “help” part of Helpout very seriously. Like the free seminars she gives for high school students and their parents, Kuczmarksi uses Helpout to spread the good word about teens’ need for independence and risk-taking. But she also doesn’t want people to abuse her time and generosity, hence the fees.

By the way, she offered good, solid advice. The video feed was mediocre at best, though, and the scheduling/notification snafu was annoying. More than six months after launching Helpout, Google is clearly still working out some of the kinks.

Night Nanny now Google click away. The Sunday Telegraph

Author: Jordan Baker

It is the brave new world of parenting instead of tearing their hair out in the wee hours over a crying baby, parents can log on to their laptop or smart phone and ask an expert to solve their problems.

Google's Helpout offers expert help on everything from learning the guitar to interior design. Now it has added a parenting channel, signing up Australian company Night Nannies as one of its providers.

"On the weekend I helped a Spanish couple in Spain who were accessing the service via their mobile phone", director Annemarie Sansom said. Ms Sansom said she became involved after receiving a phone call from Google headquarters in California. Costs of the services differ depending on the company but an hour long consultation with Night Nannies costs $60. Google takes a 20 per cent cut.